Archie comes to the CW

Hot on the heels of a brand new comic book spin-off, the CW has announced that the gang from Riverdale over in Archie comics will be heading to TV in an all new live-action series.

Super-producer Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) has reportedly been given free reign with the series, which will be based on the Riverdale series of comics by Archie Comics, but will explore the darker, grittier side of Riverdale. The series is set to start filming this spring.

The show will be based around Archie Andrews (with a secret), Betty Cooper (now popping Adderall), Veronica Lodge (still a spoiled brat), and all their friends. Of course we’ll see Jughead, who was recently given a makeover at the hands of Chip Zdarsky (Sex Criminals, Howard the Duck), Josie & the Pussycats, and Archie’s rival, Reggie. Also of note will be Kevin Keller, a recently introduced gay character who is rumored to play a pivotal role in the show.

Rather than go with the typical take on Archie as the wholesome teenager, this series is going to be more about “small-town life and the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade.” This is clearly evident by the inclusion of Archie Comics Chief Creative Officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa as the head writer of the pilot. Aguirre-Sacasa is well known as the writer of the critically acclaimed and wildly popular Afterlife with Archie series where the gang from Riverdale is caught squarely in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Here’s hoping for a Sabrina the Teenage Witch cameo that isn’t Melissa Joan Hart.